I-Connect007 Editor's Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

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Trade shows and technical conferences haven’t died; they’ve just moved online. The trade show season continues in virtual full force this week, and event coverage dominates the top five this week. Surprisingly, I don’t see events as this week’s theme. No, this week’s theme is “pundits.” We have Walt Custer’s industry outlook, seven experts on additive electronics, a designers conference keynote, and the IPC’s government relations expert. Don’t get me wrong: These folks are asked to speak to the industry for a good reason. They know their subject matter, and they present it skillfully. This week’s top five picks are worth reading.

An Update on Walt Custer’s EIPC Business Outlook Webinar
Published 10/12

Once again, Pete Starkey paints pictures with the agenda of a technical conference, highlighting Walt Custer’s business outlook update, with an emphasis on the European electronics industry, from the EIPC’s webinar on October 2. It wasn’t all bad news; at one point, Custer said, “It was really bleak earlier in the year. There was nothing positive that we could say in March and April. But now, business conditions are finally improving again.”

SMTA Additive Electronics TechXchange Speakers List Announced
Published 10/12

While this online, virtual conference may have already been held on October 15, it was clear that the agenda and speaker lineup caught reader attention. The TechXchange was extremely well attended. Held in San Jose in October 2109, the first Additive Electronics Conference was a success with very engaged attendees. This year’s online version showed that a technical conference could adapt well to the online format, and attendance reflected that, with almost 4X the registered attendees over last year’s conference.

Real Time with… AltiumLive 2020: Eli Hughes’ Full-Stack Hardware Engineer Keynote
Published 10/13

Though he didn’t specifically list James Burke as an influence, something tells me that Eli Hughes, co-founder of TZero and one of the AltiumLive 2020 keynote speakers, is a fan of the classic BBC-produced television series “Connections.” Hughes’ presentation, “Crossing the Chasm: The Road to Becoming a Full-Stack Hardware Engineer,” chose to highlight the gap, whereas Burke’s title concentrated on linking the knowledge, but both were after the same purpose—demonstrating that it takes cross-disciplinary thinking to truly innovate.

Electrolube Develops Plant-Based Epoxy, PU Bio Resins
Published 10/14

Electrolube has a new bio range of resins using locally sourced materials. The cost-driven incentive, led by Electrolube’s Indian and U.K. R&D teams, created a more eco-friendly plant-based isocyanate by using a local material to produce a natural oil perfect for epoxy resins.

The Government Circuit: U.S. and European Lawmakers Eyeing Changes That Would Affect Our Industry
Published 10/14

Chris Mitchell’s column tends to get a lot of reader attention. This week’s column was particularly well-read. If you haven’t caught up with it yet, his topics cover how COVID-19 is affecting the U.S. and European electronics industry, U.S. defense bills aimed at more supply chain resiliency, a pro-industrial-base COVID-19 recovery bill, and decoupling between China and the U.S.

03/21/2023 | Christopher Bonsell, Chemcut

This year, I had the great opportunity to come to IPC APEX EXPO in San Diego as a contributing member in Chemcut’s booth. Being an exhibitor is always interesting because you never know what you will learn or who you will meet. Truly, it seems that every IPC APEX EXPO is an eye-opening experience. This was the second show I attended, and last year I was amazed to see how in-depth and interconnected the electronics industry is. Seeing how many different companies contribute to manufacturing today’s core technology never fails to impress me.

03/21/2023 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007

Investments, staffing, cybersecurity, and a peek into his crystal ball—John Vaughan, vice president of strategic markets at Summit Interconnect, sits down with Nolan Johnson to talk about it all. Business is good, by the way, thanks to Summit’s portfolio of military contracts, and he has sound advice to offer for smaller shops in the United States, and their real ability to make a difference in PCB fabrication.

03/21/2023 | Dan Beaulieu, D.B. Management Group

I have always felt that automation has the potential to make a big difference in our PCB industry, especially domestically, where labor is at premium. For the past year, I have been looking for the story of how automation can and will make a significant difference in established PCB shops. I was fortunate enough to find that story in Multicircuits, located in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Only a few short years ago, this company was considered a “plain vanilla” PCB fabricator holding its own in our industry; now it has suddenly assumed a true leadership position in the industry in terms of capability, technology, operations, and profitability.